Street-sweeping apparatus.



A. D. JONES.

STREET SWEEPING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 30 1909. nmmwsn 001'. 24, 1910.

' 993,603. Patented May 30, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

nuwtoz A. D. JONES.

STREET SWEEPING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED 111101.80, 1909. RENEWED 00m. 24, 1910.

9,913,603,. Patented May 30, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. n. JONES STREET SWEEPING APPARATUS. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 30, 1900. RENEWED OUT. 24, 1910.

993,603. Patented May 30, 1911.

\N 4 SHEETS-SEEET 3.

INN! z in 11 A. D. JONES.

STREET SWEBPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1900. RENEWED 001224, 1010.

993,603. Patented May 30, 1911.

4 sums-sum 4.

Wdnoooeo m ca/u UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' ALVA ID JONES, F LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, .ASSIG'NTOIR. '10 AMERICAN STREET CLEANER COMPANY, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA TERRITORY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

STBEET-SWEEPING APPARATUS.

Patented May 30, 1911.

Application filed August 30, 1909, Serial No. 15,356. Renewed October 24, 1910. ,Serial No. 588.900.

'To.all.whom.it1nay concern:

' Be it known that I, ALVA D. JONES, a citizen of-the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of J efi'erson and State of ,Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street Sweeping Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thersame.

My present invention relates to. improvements in street sweeping apparatus, in which arrangement is made for sweeping the streets with rotary brushes, and removing the dust and other-solid particles suspended in the air by pneumatic attachments, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In-theordinary process of-street sweeping,

the brushes now generally used are either too large or too rigid to reach into the crevices or irregular'depressions in the street, with the .result that such depressions are filled up with the dirt that is raised by the brushes and carried along by the. machine. I According to my invention, I use a series of small brushes, which are rotated rapidly about a substantially vertical axis, and the dust and other solid particles raised are sucked into. openings in pneumatic pipes, whence the material is delivered to a suitable separator,'the filteredair is allowed to escape and the dustis blown into bags, or other suitable receptacles.

My invention will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the. same parts are indicated by the same letters throughout. the several views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ordinary street car, fitted with my improved street sweeping apparatus. Fig. 2 is an end view of the apparatus, part of the car being.

shown in section, and part of the apparatus being broken away. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatusshown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows a section along the line 44 of Fig. 3, parts being omitted. Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 2, except that the suction pipes .and other 'parts of the apparatus are omitted. Fig. 6 is a detail showing the means for rotating one of the brushes and for allowing the same to yield to vertical pressure. Fig. 7

is a detail showing in section some of the driving gears. Fig. Sis a detail showing in section the union'b'etween the suction pipes strengthening 'ri frame A. To this frame the hub 12 of the propelled vehicle. In the drawings, the ordinary street car is shown, but it will be ob v1ous that any other vehicle, Whether mounted on tracks or not, may be used, and I do not mean to limit the invention. to a street car, although many worn out cars might be readily adapted for use with this apparatus.

Attached to the body of the vehicle is a frame A, havin arms a, a, and (1 with a a on the arm a of the beam'B is pivoted, as by means of they shaft 0. The outer end of this beam B carries an angle iron B, and depending from the beam are aseriesof sleeves 1), preferably connected to the beam B by flanges b. The weight of thisbeam B and the parts carried thereby is supported from suitable stays, such as D, connected to the eye-bolt cl at the end of the beam B, as shown in Fig. 1. In order to swing the beam B and the parts carried thereby, and also i to permit the swinging backward of the same, a guy rope D is pro-1 vided, whose ends are secured to the eye-bolt cl, and whose bight is rove over suitable pulleys cl in the vehicle body, as shown in Fig. 1, and is then rove around the axle Eonthe shaft E, carrying the hand wheel E, after the manner of the steering wheel and tiller ropes, well known in sailing vessels. The other end of this shaft E carries the bevel pinion E meshing in the bevel gear F,

which is loosely mounted on the shaft C, and is fast to the beam 13, as shown in Fig. 7

G are rotary brushes, preferably made cruciform, as shown in Fig. 1, which brushes are fast on-the end of rods G, splined, as at g, intothe slot h of the hollowsleeve H. In this hollow sleeve is mounted a spring h,- which normally presses the brush downward. This hollow sleeve is jpurnaled in the bearingplate: h, and the beam. B, as shown most clearly in Fig. 6, and is driven by a sprocket wheel H, meshing in the sprocket chain I, which passes over the sprocket wheel K, fast on the shaft C, as shown in Fig. 7. This shaft C also carries the bevel,

gear K, meshing with the bevel pinion L on the shaft L, which carries a worm wheel L meshingwith the worm M on the shaft M of the motor M. This motor is preferably an electric motor, and driven by its shaft-M is a suctiompump P, which is connected by the pipe Q to the pipes Q, which latter have openings q abreast of the brushes G, Fig. 8

shows the connection between the pipes Q and Q, where g and-g are flanges on the two pipes, respectively, the flange 9 being supported by the ball bearing 9, so that the pipes Q may be swung about on the shaft C with very little friction.

It will be noted that the center of the bearing shown in Fig. 8 is coincident with the axis of the shaft C, shown in Fig. 1.

The air sucked through thepipe is tiltered in. any convenient way, as by a screen, or other methods well known in the art, and the dirt is blown 01f through the pipe R into any suitable receptacle, such as the sack S, shown in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3.

In order to protect against excessive dust from the brushes, a curved hood such as T, shown in Fig. 1, is provided, consisting of a piece of sheet metal, with curved ends 1 inclosing rods 25, which curved ends and rodspass near the surface of the ground and are pressed upward by any obstructio thatithey may encounter.

The operation of the device is as follows :The car, or other vehicle carrying the apparatus, being propelled along the street in the usual way, and the motor LM v being in operation, the shaft L and gears L, K andK will drive the sprocket chain I, rotating the various sleeves H, and rotating with the sleeves the brushes G. The springs 72. will hold the brushes G down to their work, but allowing the same to yield to inequalities in the street. v The air, mingled with dust and dirt thrown off by the brushes Gr, will be sucked in through the openings 9 to the pipes Q, and will be drawn through the pipe Q, to the-suction pump and separator It, and will be collected in the receptacles S. Should the apparatus strike a stone, or other obstruction on the street, the guy rope D will reeve around the axle E, turning the wheel E and allowing the beam B and the parts carried thereby to swing backward. This swinging back ward will cause the stay D to automatically lift the framework until it clears the ob struction, unless the obstruction'be so great as to be noticeable tothe driver of the car, in which case it would be preferable. to remove or to avoid the same, as would be the case with any other kindred apparatus. As

soon as the'obstruction has been passed, the

weight ofthe parts will automaticallyswing the frame back to the initial position, at

right angles, or at practically right angles to the car. It will be obvious that an attendant at the wheel E? might swing the drivenby the same chain 1. By having the brushes so arrange-d, every particle of the groundpassed over is covered, and by having the brushes adapted to yield vertically under the combined action of their own resilient strands, supplemented by the pres- 7 Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent'of the United States, is:-

. 1. In a street-sweeping machine, the combination with a vehicle, of a swinging frame hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of said'frame, means for swinging said frame laterally, a series of rotary brushesmounted in said frame, and hav' ing their axes substantially vertical, means for imparting vertical play to said brushes,

suction pipes at each side of said brushes. adapted to suck in the air and solid parti-u cles raised by said brushes, and a suction pump carried by said vehicle and connected to said suction pipes, substantially as described. I I I '2. In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a vehicle, of a swinging frame 7 hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of said frame, a'guy rope 1 avingits ends secured to the outer end of said frame and'its bight passing through pulleys carried by said vehicle and wound about an axle, a wheel carried by said axle, whereby said frame may be swung laterally, a series of rotary brushes mounted in said frame, and having their axes substantially'vertical,

,means for permittingvertical playto said brushes, suction pipes at each sideof said brushes andadapted to suck in the air and the solid particles raised by said brushes, and a suction pump carried by said vehicle we I and connected to said suction pipes, substan tially as described, v

3. In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a vehicle, of a swinging frame hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of said frame comprising a stay connected thereto and to the upper part of said vehicle, means for swinging said frame laterally, a series of rotary brushes mounted in said frame, and having theiraxes substantially vertical, means for imparting vertical play to said brushes, suction pipes at'each end of saidbrushes adapted to suck in the air and solid particles raised by saidv brushes, and a suction pump carried by said vehicle and connected'to said suction pipes, substantially as described.

4. In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a vehicle, of a swinging frame hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of said frame comprising a stay connected thereto and to the upper part of said vehicle, a guy rope having its ends secured to the outer end of said frame and its bight passing through pulleys carried by sald vehicle and wound about an axle, a Wheel carried by said axle, whereby said frame may be swung laterally, a series of rotary brushes mounted in said frame, and having their axes substantiall vertical,

' means for permitting vertical p ay to said brushes, suction pipes at each side ofsaid brushes adapted to suck in the air and the solid particles raised by said brushes, and a suction pump carried by said vehicle and connected to said suction pipes, substantially as described.

5. In a street swee ing machine, the combination with a vehic e, of a swinging frame hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of said frame, means for swin ing said frame laterally, a series of cruci orm rotary brushes mounted in said frame having their arms interpenetrating and having their axes substantially vertical, means for rotat ing said brushes all at the same rate of speed, means 'for permitting vertical play to said brushes, suction pipes at each side' of said brushes adapted to suck in the air and solid particles raised by said brushes, and a SHCtIQII pump carried by said vehicle and connected to saidsuction pipes, substantially as described.

6. In a street sweeping machine, the combinationwith a vehicle, of a swinging frame hinged to said vehicle, a sup ort for the free end of said frame compr1s1ng a stay, a guyrope having its ends secured to the outer end of said frame and its bight passing through pulleys carried by said vehicle and wound about an axle, a wheel carried by said axle, whereby said frame may be swung laterally, a series of cruciform rotary brushes mounted in said frame having their arms interpenetrating and having their axes substantially vertical, means for permitting vertical play to said brushes, suction pipes at each side of said brushes adapted to suck in the air and thesolid particles raised by said brushes, and a suction pump carried by said vehicle and connected to said suction pi es, substantially as described.

In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a vehicle, of a swinging frame hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of said frame, means for swmging carried b said frame laterally, a series of hollow sleeves journaled in .said frame; a brush rod slidably mounted in each of said sleeves but held against turning therein, a coil spring mounted in each sleeve and adapted to press the brush rod and brush downward, a sprocket wheel on each sleeve, a sprocket chain meshing in all of said sprocket wheels, means for driving said sprocket chain, suction pipes at each side of said brushes ada ted to suck in the air and solid partic es raised by said brushes, and a suction pum carried by said vehicle and connected to sai suction pipes, substantially as described.

8. In a street swee ing'machine, the combination with a vehic e, of a swingingframe hinged to said vehicle, a support for the free end of-said frame, a guy rope having its ends secured to the outer end of said frame and its bight gassing throu h pulleys said vehic e an woun about an axle, a w eel carried by said axle, whereby said frame may be swunglaterall a series of hollow sleeves journaled in said frame, a brush rod slidably mounted in each of said sleeves but held against turning therein, a coil spring mounted in eachsleeve and adapted to press the brush rod and brush downward, a sprocket wheel on each sleeve, a sprocket chain meshin in all of said sprocket wheels, means %or driving said sprocket chain, suction pipes at each side of said brushes adapted to suckin the air and the solid particles raised.by said brushes, and a suctlon pump carried by said vehicle and connected to said suction pipes, sub-' stantially as described.

9. In a street swee ing machine, the combination with a per orated suction pipe, of

a longitudinally movable and substantially vertical rotary ush rod, a brush secured at 'the lower end of said brush rod and in juxtaposition to said perforated pipe, and means for pressing ownwapd vertically upon said brush rod while it is in rotation, substantially as described.

10. In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a perforated suction pipe, off

a longitudinally movable and substantially vertical rotary brush rod, a brush secured at.

the lower end of said brush rod and in juxtaposition to said perforated plpe, and a coil spring mounted above and pressing downward vertlcally upon saidbrush rod while it is in rotation, substantially as described.

'- In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses;

. ALVA D. JONES. Witnesses: i a

T. A. WITHERSPOON,

R. M. PARKER. 

